Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Stock

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC has increased their price target for Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) from $70.00 to $82.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.07% from the previous close.
• Upstart has recently reported $213.37 million in revenue for the quarter, surpassing analyst estimates, with EPS of $0.30 compared to a consensus estimate of $0.19.
• Insiders have sold a total of 151,650 shares of Upstart stock within the last 90 days, raising concerns as this represents a significant decrease in their holdings.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $70.00 to $82.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target suggests a potential upside of 19.26% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on UPST. Barclays raised their price target on Upstart from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Upstart from $88.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Upstart from $70.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised Upstart to an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Upstart to a "sell" rating and set a $71.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.85.

Upstart Stock Performance

Shares of UPST stock opened at $68.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.20. The stock has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of -859.50 and a beta of 2.39. Upstart has a 1 year low of $31.40 and a 1 year high of $96.43.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $257.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $225.35 million. Upstart had a negative return on equity of 5.95% and a negative net margin of 0.75%. Upstart's revenue was up 101.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Upstart will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.07, for a total value of $320,280.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 24,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,971,563.61. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 13,512 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.97, for a total transaction of $634,658.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 311,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,624,391.32. This trade represents a 4.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 151,650 shares of company stock valued at $9,665,841 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 16.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upstart

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Upstart by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 2,093 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Upstart by 135.3% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 83,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,418,000 after buying an additional 48,162 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new stake in Upstart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $527,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its holdings in Upstart by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 19,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 1,608 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Upstart by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,009,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,965,000 after buying an additional 73,582 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Upstart

Upstart Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform in the United States. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small dollar loans that connects consumer demand for loans to its to bank and credit unions.